Origins of a species? Career paths of directors of academic staff development units in Australian universities

There is a surprising diversity in backgrounds and career paths of directors of academic staff development units in Australia. From twenty years ago when there were very few such positions we have come to the time where almost all universities in the country have a director, head, chair, coordinator of some sort of unit providing developmental opportunities for academic staff.

It is possible to identify approximately thirty individuals in Australian universities who currently have a responsibility for leading an academic development unit. But where did these people come from? What are their demographic characteristics? Are they 'career ' academic developers or 'itinerants' who move in and out of the staff development endeavour? Is there a physical science, social science or humanities predominance in their backgrounds? To what extent has a formal pedagogical training played a part in their career development? Are there any patterns that emerge that would allow us to characterise the incumbents of these positions?

This paper reports on research conducted earlier in 1996 in which all heads of units were asked to provide details of their career paths to this point in time. The findings have been derived from analysis of text-based data, primarily extracts from the individuals CVs. Through inspection of this data a demographic profile of this 'occupational group' has been developed, common characteristics explored, as well as the diversity career paths elaborated.

The research has been exploratory. Its findings are descriptive. The paper provides the first collective image of heads of staff development units in Australia.